Oh, where do I start! This Jefferson Tower wedding is all the things you want at your fall wedding! Sweet Laura and Alex… These two lovebirds found me through one of my friends; whose wedding I also photographed a few years back. Just like all my other couples, with Laura and Alex too, we clicked so well on our first call.
The Details
Although most of my couples love the lay flat details I do, Laura and Alex were more about the candid moments that would unfold throughout the day. While we were working on their photography timeline, they wanted to use most of the time I’d usually spend with lay-flat details and getting ready with candid shots of everything else happening instead.
The Venue: Jefferson Tower
Laura and Alex’s ceremony and reception were held at the beautiful Bishop Arts district venue, the Jefferson Tower Events. The decoration and florals were done by the venue co-owner and florist, Silka Sanchez and they did an amazing job putting it all together!
I love all the cohesive fall color details, from the florals to Laura’s brick color shoes. I’m still a little bummed about not being able to do lay flats for this set – but getting to mingle more with my couple and their crowd was an equally beautiful experience.
As Laura and Alex opted out of doing a first look before their ceremony, the ceremony and seeing each other for the first time was their most anticipated part of their day.
Their Story
Alex is French and he ended up moving here from France for work. It wasn’t a temporary position but it became permanent once they met with Laura and decided “this is it”. As Alex’s family is in France and due to the pandemic not everyone was able to make it to be there in person, the ceremony was HIGHLY emotional. Laura’s mom started crying before she even walked down the aisle and took her seat in the front row. Laura’s eyes were all pearly and shiny from joy, while Alex held himself hard to keep it together. Overall I don’t think there was a single person in the room that didn’t get teary eyes during their vows.
I want to thank my sponsors Lancôme and KVD for allowing me to keep my make-up on and not look like a panda for the remainder of my day, despite all the happy tears :v
Laura got anxious butterflies just before walking down the aisle. After three slow deep breaths, she managed to squash the anxiousness and kept the butterflies – and after locking eyes with Alex as she kept walking calmed her immediately.
The Golden Hour Portrait Session
The Jefferson Tower is a beautiful venue inside and out! After their ceremony, we went up to the rooftop for their golden hour portrait session. Being away from the crowd, surrounded by the nice breeze and calm city noise… I wanted to spend as much time on the photos as possible.
We ended up finishing our session with a few flashy artsy-fartsy photos after the sunset.
The Reception
The reception was equally emotional and fun as the ceremony itself. Because a lot of Alex’s family and friends weren’t able to participate in person, they all came together to prepare an amazing video. We shared laughter and happy tears. The best part you ask? The newlyweds had no idea their loved ones had prepared such a sweet and personable surprise. Their reactions as they kept watching were THE BEST.
Their favorite part of the day was the speeches by their wedding party and Laura’s father but they both felt so much love and fulfillment during the ceremony itself, reciting their vows.
Alex’s brother Quentin totally dropped the ball by telling Laura how he had sneaky plans of convincing her to move to France” we are going to make you move to France!” – so he could keep his lifelong best friend, Alex, close to him. Who knows – maybe we’ll find a way to bring Quentin here instead? 😀
The final surprise of the day was the live Zoom call with their friend who woke up mid-night to see them – literally only put on a shirt, and forget the pants. Hahaha! Seriously, these two have the best tribe to share their life with!
After Laura’s dance with her dad and then their wonderfully choreographed dance with Alex, the dance floor was FINALLY open and everyone joined them. DJ KB kept the party going for the entire night! I don’t remember seeing Laura stop for a moment and take a break – she danced her heart out until it was time for the exit!
Well, this duo who started the dance battle was extremely fun! They really went for it, and one of them ended up ripping his pants (totally have a close-up photo of it that I didn’t want to post here LOL!!) but I think it was worth it – because he won! Hah! 😀
Laura mentioned that the most unexpected moment of the entire day was when their friend pulled out a pair of rollerblades and danced with them. Yes, he literally break danced with his rollerblades the entire night! I thought I had seen it all after 450-500 something weddings – I WAS WRONG. Hahahahaha!
I also have to totally mention this wonderful lady who gave a flamenco feast and it all got better when Laura joined her too!
Laura and Alex opted out from anything during the reception that was not important to them. This includes events such as cake cutting and garter toss. They wanted to be more present at the moment and spend time with their guests. I always tell my couples who ask me what they can and they can’t do on their wedding day – and my answer will always be the same. YOU DO YOU, BOO! It’s your wedding day and there’s no such thing as right or wrong – and these two lovebirds did exactly that!
The best advice Laura and Alex give to couples who are planning their wedding is to talk through each of your wants/needs for the day and make sure to get rid of anything you think that might take away from those wants/needs.
The entire day was a bundle of joy and fulfillment for these two. They look forward to all the travels and adventures they’ll get to keep doing as a married couple.
“Your style is efficient, fun, and eccentric. We both felt extremely comfortable around you since we are all like-minded in so many ways. We trusted your expertise and you never pressured us to do anything we didn’t want to!”
My lovelies… I’m so happy I got to spend time with you! Photographing your celebration, and getting to be part of everything in between was wonderful. I really can’t ask for more wonderful humans to work with! I feel very lucky to build my life and my career around couples like yourself. THANK YOU so much again for making me fall in love with what I do a little more!
If you’re planning your own wedding and are in search of your own photographer, let’s chat! Fill out my contact form below and I’ll get back to you with all the information along with a scheduling link to schedule your consultation with me! 🙂
